Scientists in Germany have shed new light on the addition of small molecules to the ubiquitous N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), previously thought to be impossible for NHCs. Ulrich Siemeling and colleagues have shown that stable NHCs can show strongly enhanced reactivities towards fundamentally important small molecules such as ammonia and carbon monoxide, which is unprecedented for diaminocarbene compounds. The scientists were able to add carbon monoxide to a number of carbene systems, including the simplest stable diaminocarbene, Alder’s C(NiPr2)2 to which they added carbon monoxide. This provided a new entry to the important beta-lactam ring systems commonly found in antibiotics. This newly discovered reactivity opens the door to an exciting area of synthetically useful carbene chemistry. Original publication: Ulrich Siemeling, Christian Färber, Clemens Bruhn, Michael Leibold, Detlef Selent, Wolfgang Baumann, Moritz von Hopffgarten, Catharina Goedecke, and Gernot Frenking, Chemical Science, 2010
New coating is self-defence for seeds
Scientists in Switzerland have developed a protective coating for seeds that poisons pests with cyanide when they bite into it. The coating is a system of two layers and only becomes toxic when the layers are mixed, eliminating the problem of environmental contamination that is associated w ... more
Using bacteria to make electrodes
Scientists in France have produced hematite using a bacterial pathway for use as an electrode material in Li-ion technologies. Currently, most commercial electrode materials for Li-ion technologies are prepared using the ceramic method, which requires long heating periods at high temperatur ... more
Marine plant replacement for platinum in solar cells
An international research team has shown that that the power conversion efficiency of sea tangle extract is comparable to platinum in solar cell electrodes. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are quickly becoming a widespread and affordable alternative to photovoltaic solar cells. The electr ... more
Royal Society of Chemistry – About us
With more than 51,000 members and an international publishing and knowledge business we are the UK’s professional body for chemical scientists, supporting and representing our members and bringing together chemical scientists from all over the world. more
Hear from RSC member Vicki Stone talk about her role as a Nanotoxicologist. more
When Food met Pharma: Delivery Strategies for Nutraceuticals
With growing prevalence of lifestyle-associated diseases, including obesity, Type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease, there is an urgent need and demand to try to prevent the onset of these diseases within our growing population. Nutraceuticals, along with appropriate diet and exercise, ... more
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
The RSC is a leading international publisher of highly regarded journals and books in the chemical sciences. The RSC is also the professional body for chemists with a global membership of over 46,000. more
Overcoming the optical resolution limit
When measuring with light, the lateral extent of the structures that can be resolved by an optical imaging system is fundamentally diffraction limited. Overcoming this limitation is a topic of great interest in recent research, and several approaches have been published in this area. In a r ... more
Optimized laser pulses drill narrower and deeper holes
Nanotechnology is at the forefront of today’s advance in areas such as electronics, optical communica-tion and biomedicine. It is about custom-designed structures that are smaller than a micrometer which is already a hundredth of the diameter of a human hair. These so-called nanostructures ... more
Where electrons get stuck in traffic
The thinnest wire in the world, made from pure gold, is being examined by physicists from the universities of Würzburg and Kassel. Its exceptional electrical conductivity is causing quite a stir: the electrons do not move freely through the wire, but like cars in stop-and-go traffic. Normal ... more
